We Did It: Scholastic Expels the Bratz from Schools

Thanks to CCFC members, Scholastic, Inc. will no longer be promoting the highly sexualized Bratz brand in schools.

In April, 2007, we launched a letter-writing campaign urging Scholastic to stop promoting Bratz items at their book clubs and book fairs. You flooded Scholastic with emails urging them to stop selling books such as Lil' Bratz Dancin Divas; Lil' Bratz Catwalk Cuties; and Lil' Bratz Beauty Sleepover Bash.

We were disappointed in Scholastic's initial response. They claimed the Bratz books were important to reach "reluctant readers." This claim seemed disingenuous, especially when the 2007-2008 Scholastic Bratz items included the Bratz: Rock Angels computer game and the Bratz Fashion Designer stencil set so elementary school students could design "the perfect purse."

But we kept the pressure on. And in the end, more than 5,000 emails from CCFC members were too much to ignore. Scholastic has confirmed that they will no longer be selling Bratz Items in schools. We applaud Scholastic for this decision.

We know that many of you have other concerns about Scholastic's role in promoting commercialism in schools. We share these concerns, and, in the coming weeks, we'll be releasing a report on this issue.

But for today, let's celebrate Bratz-free schools and what we can accomplish when we work together to reclaim childhood from corporate marketers.